Daily Digest

Raleigh Court Townhomes Sell for $1.4 Million

The 59-unit Raleigh Court Townhomes at 4230 Powers Road in Raleigh has sold for $1.4 million.

BSJW Real Estate Holdings GP bought the 43-year-old property in a July 22 warranty deed from Raleigh Court Townhomes LLC, which had acquired the property in 2004 for $1.9 million.

Built in 1970, the Class D, 82,434-square-foot townhouse complex sits on 4.4 acres along the west side of Powers Road at its intersection with Jones Road near Raleigh-Millington Road.

The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2013 appraisal is $1.5 million.

In conjunction with the purchase, BSJW filed a $1.3 million deed of trust through Triumph Bank. Jack Whitaker, trustee of the Whitaker Revocable Living Trust, and Brandon Smith signed the deed as the borrowing entity’s partners.

Source: The Daily News Online & Chandler Reports

– Daily News staff

Raymond James Renovating Office in Downtown Tower

Raymond James is renovating an office near the top of the skyscraper that’s a key fixture of the Downtown Memphis skyline.

The company, which had its real estate officials in town in recent days as it moves toward a decision on its Downtown lease that expires in two years, has pulled a permit for work that’s described as “renovation of office” on the 20th floor of the 21-story tower, according to The Daily News Online, www.memphisdailynews.com.

City Council Approves Civil Service Referendum

The Memphis City Council approved Tuesday, Aug. 20, a 2014 city referendum on a charter change that would change the city’s civil service board system.

Part of the proposal by council member Kemp Conrad is aimed at better staffing the review board, which decides employee appeals, to hear a current backlog of cases and resolve them more quickly. Under another change in the proposal, employees could be cited for – and appeal – performance issues, in addition to violations of policies.

The administration of Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. withdrew its ordinance to create the position of “revenue manager” within the city’s division of finance as the council prepared to vote Tuesday on its third and final reading. Some on the council, as well as council attorney Allan Wade, questioned why the administration couldn’t simply create the position without council approval.

It also approved the Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division plan to have Brookfield Infrastructure Fund II manage $20 million for the utility’s retirement and pension fund.

And the council approved on third and final reading a long-delayed ordinance that prohibits city employees from pension “double dipping” by continuing to collect a city pension if they go back to the work for the city or another local government.

The council also approved the $30 million budget for the Main Street to Main Street Connector project that outlines how and when state, federal, local and private funding will be spent.

– Bill Dries

Biggers to Coordinate ‘Smart on Crime’ Plan

Assistant U.S. Attorney C. David Biggers Jr. will coordinate prevention and re-entry programs within the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.

U.S. Attorney Ed Stanton appointed Biggers Tuesday, Aug. 20, just a week after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder outlined initiatives that call on federal prosecutors to rethink the criminal charges they file against defendants, particularly in drug cases that have mandatory minimum sentences. Holder outlined the initiatives in a speech at the American Bar Association’s annual convention in San Francisco.

Each federal prosecutor’s office across the country will have its own plan and coordinator.

Biggers is a career prosecutor who previously served as the U.S. Attorney’s office representative to the Drug Court program in Birmingham, Ala.

– Bill Dries

Shelby County Gets Head Start Grant

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen says Shelby County has been awarded a $3.6 million federal grant to support projects that get children ready to start school.

In a Tuesday news release, Cohen said the grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will support Head Start projects that promote school readiness of children from birth until the age of 5 by enhancing their cognitive, social and emotional development.

The grant completes the current year’s funding for a total of more than $23 million.

Head Start is a federal program that provides health, nutrition, social services and other services to needy children and their families.

Shelby County Head Start provides these services to more than 3,000 children.

– The Associated Press

Comptroller of Currency Ends Paragon National Bank Oversight

Paragon National Bank has shown enough progress to be able to end a special oversight arrangement the bank had with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

The agreement, which was dissolved Aug. 14, had been in place since September 2008.

Measures taken by the bank to address key items defined within the OCC agreement include, according to the bank, drastically reducing the level of problem assets, improving the concentration risk management program, developing procedures and policies to identify and control non-accruing loans, and maintaining an adequate allowance for losses.

– Andy Meek

Indie Memphis Presents Southern Circuit Tour of Films

Indie Memphis is rounding out this year’s programming with the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers.

The series, sponsored by the Department of Communications at The University of Memphis, will present six independent feature and documentary films through April. Each will have the filmmaker in attendance for a post-screening conversation with the audience.

All screenings will begin at 7:30 p.m. at Malco’s Studio on the Square. Tickets are $8 each, with a $2 discount available for seniors. Admission is free for Indie Memphis members and for students with valid IDs.

Cannon Wright Blount Acquires Wormser Firm

All Wormser Firm employees have moved to Cannon Wright Blount’s office at 756 Ridge Lake Blvd. and will maintain their roles within the firm.

This is the fourth acquisition for Cannon Wright Blount since its founding in 1994.

– Andy Meek

US Home Sales Reach Highest Level Since 2009

For the first time since 2009, previously occupied U.S. homes are selling at a pace associated with a healthy market.

Sales jumped 6.5 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.4 million, the National Association of Realtors said Wednesday. Over the past 12 months, sales have surged 17.2 percent. The trend shows that housing remains a driving force for the economy even as mortgage rates have risen from record lows.

Buyers have been purchasing previously occupied homes at an annual pace above 5 million for three straight months. The last time that happened was in 2007. Sales are above the 3.45 million pace of July 2010, the low point after the housing bubble burst. Analysts think a healthy pace is roughly between 5 and 5.5 million.

Buyers last month weren’t dissuaded by higher long-term mortgage rates, which have jumped, on average, a full percentage point since early May.